SACRAMENTO, Calif. - New data show nearly 18.1 million Californians are registered to vote, the second-highest statewide voter registration total ever.
Secretary of State Alex Padilla said Thursday that 45 percent of registered voters are now registered Democrats. That's nearly 8.2 million voters and the highest number of Democrats ever recorded. Republican registration has continued to slide and now stands at 27 percent.
Padilla says 23 percent of California voters are now nonpartisan, or not affiliated with any political party.
The secretary of state's office says the recent national political conventions prompted a spike in online voter registrations, with more than 30,000 California voters registering or updating their registration during the Republican National Convention and nearly 57,000 doing so during the Democratic National Convention.
Registration is expected to grow through October.
